The Athletics lost to the Giants in the Bay Bridge series

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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 23: Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (40) rubs the dirt from the mound before throwing against San Francisco Giants’ Scooter Gennett (14) in the fifth inning of a MLB game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2019. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — It was almost poetic, really. Now a Giant, Stephen Vogt toed the Coliseum dirt he once kicked daily as an Athletic and deposited a home run once again into a sea of fans in left field that had come prepared to welcome him back home.

Vogt’s three-run homer off Ryan Buchter looked to be pulled by the cosmos, and also was the final blow to a now uncharacteristically tumultuous eighth inning meltdown for the A’s bullpen that led to a 10-5 loss to the Giants on Saturday night.

“Felt like we didn’t get an out for an hour,” manager Bob Melvin said after the game.

In reality, it took about 30 minutes for the A’s to get out three. They entered with a two-run lead, then Yusmeiro Petit succumbed to a flurry of soft hits. A.J. Puk took the big league mound for the second time to face left-hander Brandon Belt, who Giants manager Bruce Bochy shrewdly pinch hit for with right-hander Austin Slater.

Puk’s slider hit 90, he threw a handful of them including a run-scoring wild pitch before issuing a walk and departing the game with a big-league ERA of 27.00. Things snowballed against Trivino before Vogt iced the avalanche with the Giants ahead by six runs.

“I think we just have to move on from this one, we’ve been playing well up to this point,” Melvin said “We just basically had a bad inning today.”

It had been a while since the A’s fell victim to the bullpen meltdown. Once very much a question mark with Trivino and Treinen producing below their, albeit high, expectations, the A’s bullpen has quietly crept up in the ranks as one of baseball’s best.

The ‘pen’s collective 4.5 WAR is sixth best in baseball. It’s 4.13 FIP ranks seventh, with an expected FIP of a bottom-dwelling 4.85 the best indicator of how this bullpen is outperforming expectations.

Petit in particular has filled every need, every gap needed off that bench. Melvin is never shy to sing his praises, and for good reason. He’s now pitched 66 innings total in 65 games. His finesse style of pitching lends itself to every situation: early, in full innings, for one out, in high-leverage situations.

Perhaps the Giants knew Petit a little too well — he played a key role there on a couple World Series teams. Or, maybe, after that wild stretch against the Astros and Yankees, consistency was due to hit a speed bump.

“It’s just one game, it is what it is,” Chris Bassitt said. “We can make this a huge deal but it’s just one game. Lick your wounds, come in tomorrow and do your job.”

Bassitt delivered another stellar start, allowing just two runs before the madness over 5 2/3 innings. One big key: he’s held left-handers to a .199 average. Of course, left-hander Brandon Crawford went the other way and into the seats with Bassitt’s changeup. The Giants fed off that action.

“You just have to tip your hat sometimes,” Bassitt said. “Crawford hit the changeup that he stayed on better than anyone has all year. Longoria hit a ball a foot inside. (Alex Dickerson’s) double to left, black-black away, so tip your hat.”

He had some help behind him, as always. Stephen Piscotty somehow found Buster Posey’s line drive in his glove despite the sunset’s glare.

“We’re so spoiled, that’s just standard. I don’t know that anybody in the big leagues can make that play besides Chapman,” Bassitt said. “No disrespect to anyone else. What he does every single day, he makes greatness look boring.”